The present invention relates to child restraint devices designed to transport children, and more specifically to apparatus and methods for utilizing a car seat in both a car and on a stroller.
Child safety seats are know for transporting children in automobiles, while strollers or buggies are known for transporting children over walking distances. As many trips include both driving and walking portions, these trips have traditionally required the use of both a child safety seat and a stroller.
At least two problems are posed with to the transportation of children over both walking and driving portions of a journey. First, the parent may purchase two separate pieces of equipment, such as a car seat and a stroller. Second, the parent may remove the child from a seated position when transitioning from one mode of transportation to the other. The child may be unbuckled from the car seat, removed from the car seat, placed in the stroller seat and strapped into the stroller when transitioning from the riding to the walking portion of a trip. This multi-step transition is stressful to the child, especially if the child has fallen asleep in the car seat during the ride portion of the journey.
Previous attempts to produce a child seat which may be moved between a car seat and a stroller frame involve complicated locking and unlocking mechanisms that must be manipulated by the parent when transferring the child seat from a car seat to a stroller. There is a need for a child seat which utilizes a simple mechanism in the transition from car to stroller transportation. The present invention does this in a novel and unobvious way.
One embodiment of the present invention is a child restraint device comprising a child seat adapted to be slideably engaged with a mounting plate which may be anchored to an adult car seat by means of a seat belt.
A further embodiment of the present invention pertains to a child seat having movable padded cushions to allow for repositioning to better support the child.
Yet another embodiment of the present invention pertains to a stroller frame equipped with a mounting plate which allows the child seat to be moved from a car to the stroller frame without removing a child from the seat.
Further objects, embodiments, forms, benefits, aspects, features and advantages of the present invention may be obtained from the description, drawings and claims provided herein.